The Atlantic - How the Video-Game Industry Already Lost Out in the Gun-Control Debate.As it happens, that's just what happened to games (and popular media more generally) in the NRA's good guy with a gun response to the Newtown shooting. Guns aren't a factor in gun violence for the NRAŚrather, games, media, and law enforcement failures must take the blame. Once the terms of the debate are set like this (and set they very much were thanks to the over-the-top bravado in this press conference) then it's very hard to extract oneself from the debate without shifting the frame, without changing the terms of the debate.

I certainly believe that the White House would like nothing more than to see an end to mass gun murders in America's elementary schools. But the fact remains that gun violence takes place every day, all across this country, at a rate of dozens of deaths a day, and as the leading cause of death among African-American youth. But when the vice president establishes a task force on gun control and violence that includes the media industries that the NRA has once again chosen as their patsies after a particularly heinous and public example of gun violence, all it can do is shift attention away from guns.

IGN - Let's Talk About Violent Video Games.Distinctions between games for adults and those for kids are fairly clear these days, thanks to the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB). Formed in 1994, the ESRB rates all video games as a guide for parents similar to the way movies are rated by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). Games are rated ranging from E for Everyone and T for Teen to M for Mature, 17+.

There is a fundamental misunderstanding that games are only for children. This needs to change for the 'violence in games' dialogue to advance.

I don't think that violent games are largely responsible for these horrible events, but I do think they are a negative influence. Violent TV and movies as well. But these influences would be much less dangerous if people (especially convicted criminals and the mentally ill) simply did not have access to weapons. Especially military grade weapons.

In both the UK and Australia, strict gun controls were put in place following early occurrences of mass killings involving assault weapons. As a result, similar events have not occurred since. The US has not done the same, and so these horrible crimes keep happening.

I think guns should be tightly controlled, with strict and mandatory background checks. Assault weapons should be banned completely. The latter are explicitly designed for efficient killing of large animals or humans in significant numbers, and they have no place in society outside of war.

TLDR: I think media contribute to this problem but are not directly responsible for it. The weapons manufacturers and NRA are responsible, and need to be tackled head on, with no backing down.